Archives: Speakers

Vasilis Tiriakidis is a passionate engineer, businessman, entrepreneur with over 3 decades of extensive experience in the fields of innovation, management and marketing techniques. He established B&T Composites to focus on R&D and manufacturing of composite products using a unique but demanding manufacturing method, filament winding, using mainly carbon and glass fibers. He brings a vast knowledge on advanced composites for marine, automotive and industrial applications, the biggest part of which are exported worldwide. Vasilis is highly ambitious and plays an integral role in several European and global projects that include universities and business associations. Embracing the benefits of hydrogen and aiming to contribute to the strategic EU objectives for a climate-neutral Europe, his last achievement is the submission and positive evaluation, by the Greek Government and the EC of an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) in the hydrogen sector.

His company has received multiple awards for the contribution to leadership and strategic experience in company management.

Yiannis A. KatsigiannisYiannis A. Katsigiannis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU) in the field of renewable energy systems optimization. He received the Diploma in Production Engineering and Management, the Diploma in Environmental Engineering, the M.Sc. degree, and the Ph.D. degree from the Technical University of Crete. His research areas are related to renewable energy sources and their integration to power systems, autonomous power systems, small and large scale energy storage, smart grids, energy saving, and artificial intelligence. He has large experience in European and National projects for renewable energy sources and autonomous power systems.

Dr. Kokarakis, a 1979 graduate of National Technical University of Athens, holds PhD and Masters’ degrees in Naval Architecture and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He worked as a consultant undertaking technical problems worldwide specializing in the technical investigation of marine accidents. He participated in the technical investigation of the Exxon Valdez grounding, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the drillship Sea-Crest capsize, the Piper Alpha fire and explosion and many other maritime accidents. He is presently the Technical Director of Bureau Veritas in the Southeast Europe, Black Sea & Adriatic Zone, responsible for the smooth technical operation within the Zone with focus on the implementation of the “green” regulations and fuel saving techniques. He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers since 1976 and a Fellow of the Society, being currently the Chairman of the Greek Section since 2014.

Professor George Ioannou is the CEO and BoD member of EnExGroup. He is the Leader of the implementation of the target model, Professor of Operations Management at the Department of Management Science and Technology of the Athens University of Economics (AUEB) and Business and Director of its Management Science Laboratory. He holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, a M.Sc./DIC in Robotics and Automation from Imperial College and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park. He served as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of Virginia Tech, directing the Manufacturing Systems Integration Lab, as well as a GRA at the Institute for Systems Research. He has received the Microsoft Excellence in Education Award and many Teaching Excellence Awards as Director and Academic Coordinator of the Energy Club of AUEB’s MBA International. He was an Executive BoD member of Hellenic Railroads SA as well as a member of the Innovation Council at the Ministry ofDevelopment, of AUEB’s Senate and of AmCham’s Innovation Committee and he has served as Head of the Evaluation Committee of ΣΥΖΕΥΞΙΣ ΙΙ (Information Society SA).

Sofia Yialama is an ESG & Sustainability Consultant based in Cairo, Egypt. Sofia holds a Bachelor’s and MSc in International and European studies. Her areas of expertise include sustainable finance, sustainability and climate change advisory services and training for financial institutions and corporations. She has worked with international financial institutions such as the EBRD, and rating agencies such as Moody’s. As a former Team Leader at the Governance and Accountability Institute (G&A) based in New York, she has practical experience in ESG data analysis of companies in the UK, USA, and Ireland. Also, as a former EU Projects Consultant at the Region of Crete (regional government authority), she has significant experience in EU projects on Green Economy, Blue Growth, Circular Economy, and Nature-Based Solutions.

Dr Valentina Dedi is an energy economist with consulting experience in international oil and gas markets and a recent focus on energy transition. She has worked for projects spanning different stakeholders in the global energy industry, including IOCs, NOCs, international organisations, governments, development banks, refineries, and storage operators, among others.

She currently works for KBR serving within the international consulting business as a Lead Economist.

Valentina has also been involved with academic institutions, teaching at the University of Surrey, UK, Bayes Business School, London City University, UK and University of Ioannina, Greece.

She is the Deputy Director of “Access for Women in Energy”, a non-for-profit organisation, which supports the development of women in the energy industry globally. She is also the General Secretary of the Greek Energy Forum. Valentina further acts as the Sustainability and Policy Advisor of the non-governmental organisation “Ecogenia” which supports sustainable development through civic engagement for young people in Greece.

Prior to KBR, she worked as an Economist at Crystol Energy, an advisory, research and training firm, as well as within the economics team of KBC Process Technology.

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Georgios was born in Thessaloniki in 1963. He graduated from the Geology Dept at Patras University in 1986 and studied engineering geology (M.Sc.) at the School of Engineering, Durham University, UK, where he received his Ph.D. in 1993 for his work on the geotechnical intrinsic properties of Greek marls. He served the Greek Corp of Engineers as a 2nd Lieutenant specialized in heavy earthworks machines. George joined Attiko Metro SA in 1995 as engineering geologist for the construction of Athens Metro new lines 2 and 3. In 1998 he moved to Erga OSE SA, a project management company of the Greek Railways, where he worked in the construction of rail tunnels, in the company’s technical monitoring team and as a geotechnical design contract Manager and Reviewer till 2012. George moved to the Ministry of Environment and Energy and joined the hydrocarbons upstream team. He took part in the acquisition of new seismic data, the evaluation of offers for the 2012 Open Door round, the preparations of the 2nd International Tender in off-shore W. Greece and S. Crete. In 2015, George went to Qatar as a geotechnical consultant with Deutsche Bahn for the record-breaking Doha Metro project. George returned to the Ministry in September 2018 and now heads the Geothermal Energy Department at the Directorate General of Mineral Raw Materials.